SEPUTEH MP Teresa Kok has urged the attorney-general to withdraw the representation of government counsel in defending the teacher who made a joke about rape during class in the countersuit filed by student Ain Husniza Saiful Nizam.

In a statement, the DAP lawmaker said she was stunned to hear that a senior federal counsel will defend the male teacher and the school’s former headmistress.

“How can a senior federal counsel act for them since the teacher and headmistress were sued in their personal capacities?

“Moreover, it was little Ain Husniza who was first sued for defamation by the teacher who cracked a rape joke in class. Ain, who was at the receiving end, was forced to defend herself and had to make a counter-claim against the teacher.”

“I urge Attorney-General Idrus Harun to withdraw the representation for the teacher and the ex-headmistress in this private legal tussle and stick to defending government entities only,” Kok said in a statement today.

It was reported yesterday that Ain and her father, Saiful Nizam Ab Wahab, have objected to a government lawyer representing two persons they are suing and countersuing in their personal capacities, calling it wholly unacceptable.

This was after a senior federal counsel (SFC) entered his appearance to defend Ain’s schoolteacher and a former headmistress of her school – who were named defendants in the suit.

According to news portal Free Malaysia Today, Ain and Saiful said it was “improper” and irregular for the SFC to act for them since the teacher and headmistress were sued in their personal capacities.

Ain was slapped with a letter of demand for RM1 million last year as compensation for having defamed the teacher.

Responding to the letter of demand, Ain counter-sued the teacher whom she said made a rape joke in class, for RM5 million, for the distress he has caused her.

Speaking further, Kok said the move by the AGC would set a bad precedent for federal counsels to act for current and retired civil servants in their private suits.

“Let us get the facts right here, all Ain did, as a female child, was to legitimately express disdain against her male adult teacher who (allegedly) trivialised rape and left it at that.

“She did not initiate any legal action, though it was within her rights. But she and her father were sued by the teacher.

“Clearly, this is a private suit between teachers and their ex-student. How can a government lawyer step in to act for the private parties  a civil servant and a retired civil servant?” she asked.

Ain’s outing of her teacher’s rape joke in April last year sparked the hashtag #MakeSchoolASaferPlace on social media and saw other girls share their stories of sexual harassment in school.

The teacher at Ain’s school, SMK Puncak Alam in Selangor, was subsequently transferred by the Education Ministry to the state education department.

Ain’s father, Saiful Nizam Abdul Wahab, had lodged a police report against the teacher, but police have marked the case as ‘no further action’ after completing investigations.

The hashtags #MakeSchoolASaferPlace and #FreeAin trended on Twitter and an online petition was started to “free” her from the teacher’s lawsuit. – June 5, 2022.